Guided Walking Tour, Rome, Italy

For our 10th anniversary, our friends Luigi and Alessandra kindly arranged for us to go on a three-hour walking tour with our very own personal tour guide.  

The walking tour started at our hotel and from there we walked passed St. Peter's Basilica (our hotel was a ten minute walk from St. Peter's) to the Castel Sant' Angelo, the tomb for Emperor Hadrian and his family.  From there we crossed the Ponte Sant' Angelo over the Fiume Tevere (Tiber River) to the centre of Rome, where we spent the rest of the time.  

During our walking tour our guide talked about the history and culture of the city, while also pointing out historical buildings and sites.  We got to see some of the government buildings, some of the main squares/piazzas, historical structures (like Bernini's Elephant Obelisk), historical sights (like Largo di Torre Argentina) and some of the significant buildings (like the Pantheon).  We also visited four churches (out of the over 400 in Rome) and they were all beautiful.  We ended our tour at the huge oblong-shaped Piazza Navona, home to elaborate fountains by Bernini and Borromini, and lined with palaces such as Pamphilj and the church of Sant' Agnese.

The walking tour was interesting, informative and really enjoyable, as we got to see and experience Rome from a different perspective.

Churches

During our walking tour, our guide took us to visit four churches and while each of them were absolutely stunning in their own right, they were all slightly different based on the period in which they were built and also the branch of Catholicism.

Sant' Andrea delle Valle
This impressive 17th century Baroque church is the setting of the first act of Puccini's opera Tosca.  It is a stunning church and has the city's second largest dome, a Baroque facade and some wonderful frescoes by Domenichno.

Chiesa del Santissimo Nome di Gesú all'Argentina
Also known as Church of the Gesú, this Counter-Reformation Jesuit church is enormous and ornate. Like the Sant' Andrea delle Valle, it too has a Baroque facade.  It was consecrated in 1584 and has a beautifully decorated interior by Giacomo della Porta.  

Chiesa di Sant' Ignazio di Loyola in Campo Marzio  
This is a 17th century Roman Catholic titular church (a church assigned to a cardinal) that is dedicated to Ignatius of Loyola, the founder of the Society of Jesus.  Like the two previous churches mentioned, it too was built in Baroque-style.  The main distinguishing feature of this church is the dome.   The dome was never completed as the church ran out of money, so the church hired a painter to depict the dome (if you look closely you can see the outline in the third photo).

Basilica di Santa Maria sopra Minerva
This church was different from the other three that we visited, as the architectural style is Italian Gothic. In fact it is the only true Gothic church in Rome.  It is a little less ornate and darker inside than the other churches, but nevertheless a beautiful church.

Speciality Shop
In few places around the world would you find shops like this one, specialising in priest and nun attire and accessories, and yet in Rome these shops are not out of place.